Famed atheist Richard Dawkins: Islam is the ‘most evil religion in the world’

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, a famed atheist, may take issue with all religion, but he finds Islam particularly abhorrent.

“It’s tempting to say all religions are bad, and I do say all religions are bad, but it’s a worse temptation to say all religions are equally bad, because they’re not,” Dawkins said during a speech Sunday at the Cheltenham Science Festival, the Telegraph reported.

Dawkins was at the event to promote his newest book, “Science in the Soul,” and advocate for religious education in British schools because religion — Christianity, in particular — is an “important part” of European culture. He said religion should be taught comparatively “because the child learns that there are lots of different religions, not just the one they were brought up with.”

At that, Dawkins explained to the audience that the Muslim faith is the “most evil religion in the world” because “if you look at the actual impact that different religions have on the world, it’s quite apparent that, at present, the most evil religion in the world has to be Islam.”

The famed evolutionist went on to say that it is Muslims, though, who suffer the most from Islam.

“They suffer from the homophobia, the misogyny, the joylessness, which is preached by extreme Islam, ISIS and the Iranian regime,” Dawkins said. “So it is a major evil in the world. We do have to combat it.”

However, the very liberal Dawkins made clear he is not a fan of the way in which President Donald Trump has addressed the issue of radical Islam. He called Trump’s proposed travel ban, which would temporarily freeze entry into the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries but has been repeatedly blocked by federal courts, “draconian,” “illiberal,” “inhumane,” and “wicked.”

“I am against Islam not least because of the unpleasant effects it has on the lives of Muslims,” Dawkins said.

It should be noted that this is not the first time Dawkins has expressed his disdain for the Muslim faith.

In a since-deleted tweet from January 2015, Dawkins suggested sending a lot of “erotic videos” to theocracies across the Middle East, adding that the pornography should be “loving, gentle, woman-respecting,” according to The Telegraph.

And Dawkins went much further in his criticism of Islam during an appearance on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” in November 2015, calling out the double standard liberals have when it comes to Islam.

“There’s this notion Islam and Muslims are this protected species,” he told host Bill Maher, who has also been critical of the Muslim faith. “That if we talk about them at all, or criticize at all, it’s somehow hurting or humiliating Muslims. It’s a ridiculous idea.”

Maher agreed, saying liberals should be open to calling out unjust treatment, regardless of faith, culture, or creed.

“But that’s ‘their culture,’ and you have to accept it. It’s the one exception. Liberal about everything but this one exception, ‘it's their culture,’” Dawkins interjected. “Well, to hell with their culture.”